4 ms·

I'm not sure if it's true, but a friend once told me the reason a store asked for your zip code was to see if they had a large audience coming from a certain ar

I'm not sure if it's true, but a friend once told me the reason a store asked for your zip code was to see if they had a large audience coming from a certain area. This let them know other locations to possibly open other stores.

Spooky23 9y ago
The GM of the big box that I worked at 25 years ago said that the zip code thing was to measure the "destinationness" of the store. In our case, the average big ticket buyer travelled an average of 30 miles, which was awesome in that it made the end caps more valuable.
aaron695 9y ago
I've heard (unsure if true) it was to reduce entropy. IE they keep the last 4 digits of your credit card, combined with a post code you have a unique id.
- heywire 9y ago
  Not necessary, most point of sale systems can provide a unique hashed or tokenized version of the account number for analytics and identification purposes.
alsetmusic 9y ago
As far back as 2000, my partner was asked for her zip code as we made a purchase and I curtly replied "no comment," to the surprise of everyone there. She walked for her phone number, which really irritated me because this was a $5 retail purchase of some type), and I got more curt when I said, "You don't need that!" I've been annoyed by this stuff long before most people were ready to consider privacy concerns anything more than paranoia.
- jabagonuts 9y ago
  I like to give fake numbers in these situations. The way I see it, intentionally supplying bogus data is one of the only ways we have left to fight the machines and their algorithms!
  - rhizome 9y ago
    My father had memorized a fake Social Security Number that had come as a sample card in a wallet he got in the 1950s. When anybody except the government asked for his SSN and who wouldn't relent on his pushback, he would give them that number.
    - kalleboo 9y ago
      It wasn't 078-05-1120? https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html
      - rhizome 9y ago
        Wow, nice! I don't know if he was one of the 12 in 1977, but he would have been if this is the number he used. Woolworth's totally makes sense. If he were alive, he would poop purple Twinkies at that story. Thanks!
    - matt_wulfeck 9y ago
      How does that work for him for things that do credit checks?
      - rhizome 9y ago
        He's been dead for 10 years, but he didn't use it for those. As I remember it, in the 80s-90s it was more common for SSNs to be requested for normal consumer things.
        thatwebdude 9y ago
        !!!!!!! Can't wait for those numbers to leak out!
        rhizome 9y ago
        I gotta say, it's possible he never actually used it in my lifetime, but he could sure tell that story and rattle off the digits at a moment's prompting.
- grogenaut 9y ago
  Really? I say "Nope" constantly and they're like "no problem" or "it's way easier to look up refunds that way" which is true depending on the store.
  - bigbugbag 9y ago
    > "it's way easier to look up refunds that way" "Thanks good to know, from now on I'll go buy at a business where this artificial limitation does not exist."
  - thatwebdude 9y ago
    If you purchased with a card, they can usually look up a transaction based on that.
adenner 9y ago
Sometimes the credit card terminal will ask especially at gas pumps for my zip code as an anti fraud measure, and will reject the transaction of you enter the wrong number. If a cashier is asking I always use 90210.
- lucaspiller 9y ago
  I had same issue when visiting the US. I tried some fake numbers but it wouldn't accept it (my actual postal code has letters, so that wasn't possible), so I just ended up paying by cash.
  - Nullabillity 9y ago
    Did you try your postal code minus the letters? Afaik[1] usually only the numbers in your address are verified anyway. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Verification_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Verification_System
    - mhandley 9y ago
      My UK postal code only has two numeric digits, whereas I seem to recall the US gas pumps require five digits. Just means you can't pay at the pump.
  - daemin 9y ago
    Post codes in Australia are just 4 numbers, so when buying subway tickets in NYC, I just put in 10000 or something (I believe that's close enough to the local code?).
- Freak_NL 9y ago
  I guess a lot of people not from the US will use 90210 when prompted for a US postal code. I can't even remember what the show was about (except that it was set in Beverly Hills, obviously), but the number stuck.
  - 6nf 9y ago

Spooky23 9y ago

The GM of the big box that I worked at 25 years ago said that the zip code thing was to measure the "destinationness" of the store. In our case, the average big ticket buyer travelled an average of 30 miles, which was awesome in that it made the end caps more valuable.

aaron695 9y ago

I've heard (unsure if true) it was to reduce entropy. IE they keep the last 4 digits of your credit card, combined with a post code you have a unique id.

heywire 9y ago
Not necessary, most point of sale systems can provide a unique hashed or tokenized version of the account number for analytics and identification purposes.

alsetmusic 9y ago

As far back as 2000, my partner was asked for her zip code as we made a purchase and I curtly replied "no comment," to the surprise of everyone there. She walked for her phone number, which really irritated me because this was a $5 retail purchase of some type), and I got more curt when I said, "You don't need that!" I've been annoyed by this stuff long before most people were ready to consider privacy concerns anything more than paranoia.

jabagonuts 9y ago
I like to give fake numbers in these situations. The way I see it, intentionally supplying bogus data is one of the only ways we have left to fight the machines and their algorithms!
- rhizome 9y ago
  My father had memorized a fake Social Security Number that had come as a sample card in a wallet he got in the 1950s. When anybody except the government asked for his SSN and who wouldn't relent on his pushback, he would give them that number.
  - kalleboo 9y ago
    It wasn't 078-05-1120? https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html
    - rhizome 9y ago
      Wow, nice! I don't know if he was one of the 12 in 1977, but he would have been if this is the number he used. Woolworth's totally makes sense. If he were alive, he would poop purple Twinkies at that story. Thanks!
  - matt_wulfeck 9y ago
    How does that work for him for things that do credit checks?
    - rhizome 9y ago
      He's been dead for 10 years, but he didn't use it for those. As I remember it, in the 80s-90s it was more common for SSNs to be requested for normal consumer things.
      - thatwebdude 9y ago
        !!!!!!! Can't wait for those numbers to leak out!
        rhizome 9y ago
        I gotta say, it's possible he never actually used it in my lifetime, but he could sure tell that story and rattle off the digits at a moment's prompting.
grogenaut 9y ago
Really? I say "Nope" constantly and they're like "no problem" or "it's way easier to look up refunds that way" which is true depending on the store.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  > "it's way easier to look up refunds that way" "Thanks good to know, from now on I'll go buy at a business where this artificial limitation does not exist."
- thatwebdude 9y ago
  If you purchased with a card, they can usually look up a transaction based on that.

adenner 9y ago

Sometimes the credit card terminal will ask especially at gas pumps for my zip code as an anti fraud measure, and will reject the transaction of you enter the wrong number. If a cashier is asking I always use 90210.

lucaspiller 9y ago
I had same issue when visiting the US. I tried some fake numbers but it wouldn't accept it (my actual postal code has letters, so that wasn't possible), so I just ended up paying by cash.
- Nullabillity 9y ago
  Did you try your postal code minus the letters? Afaik[1] usually only the numbers in your address are verified anyway. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Verification_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Verification_System
  - mhandley 9y ago
    My UK postal code only has two numeric digits, whereas I seem to recall the US gas pumps require five digits. Just means you can't pay at the pump.
- daemin 9y ago
  Post codes in Australia are just 4 numbers, so when buying subway tickets in NYC, I just put in 10000 or something (I believe that's close enough to the local code?).
Freak_NL 9y ago
I guess a lot of people not from the US will use 90210 when prompted for a US postal code. I can't even remember what the show was about (except that it was set in Beverly Hills, obviously), but the number stuck.
- 6nf 9y ago